First off, let me say this: I lied. Sort of. After reading (the first half of) Marvel Saga, I thought to myself, wouldn't it be fun to read the first issues of Marvel Comics, in chronological order, to see how the superhero evolved? I had, at the time, all the books I needed to get through, save two -- and on the first of the month, I found an excuse to get them (Free Comic Book Day). I thought, why not? Marvel Saga had done its job well, all right. I was hooked.
To read through the first year of Marvel Comics, I obtained six volumes of Marvel Essential comics, which give you somewhere between 20 and 25 full comics' worth of material, in black and white, for a pretty low cost. The volumes I got were the first each of Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, Thor, and the only volumes of Ant-Man and Human Torch.
The 1960's were very much a transition period for Marvel. The company was beginning to ease out of the easy sell genres of fantasy, horror, and mystery, and into the newly-revived-by-DC-comics genre of superheroes. The show began with Fantastic Four #1; it continued with 8 more issues of that title, 4 issues of Hulk, and 14 fantasy anthology titles that contained new superhero stories.
This early stage is two things for Marvel: an experimental stage, and also a time where "safety" is rampant. Of the first 9 issues of Fantastic Four, four issues -- nearly half -- star Sub-Mariner, Doctor Doom, or a combination. Three more introduce other villains, mostly monster-related (which makes sense, since that was Marvel's specialty at the time), and two others are cosmic stories, which I think is what the FF are most known for now. In short, it feels like Stan Lee and company are still trying to figure out what makes the FF tick, in order to give them good villains.
You could say the same thing about the other characters. The new heroes are often visited by Communist spies, because that's the easiest villain route to take. Some foes, like Loki for Thor or aliens for the Fantastic Four, really do fit. Also, the Ant-Man seems to focus on street crime. But other times, like when the Hulk eliminates an invasive alien threat, don't fit, and the creators have to come up with contrived ways to defeat them.
I think the main problem is that Marvel is more concerned, at this early stage, with providing villains for the heroes than they are with character development. The most notable exception is The Incredible Hulk, by far the best comic so far. It was released bimonthly, and cancelled after six issues (soon into the next year of my reading). Unlike in other comics, Hulk and his alter-ego, Bruce Banner, have an interesting relationship, and the stories are driven more by the characters than by the villains. Sure, Hulk happens to meet the Ringmaster and the invading Toad-Men, but the main conflict so early in these books is on how to keep the Hulk contained, and separate from the personality of Bruce Banner. That's why General Ross is so present in these issues -- the nature of the character himself is a major plot point.
And, surprise! One of the folks sometimes working on this comic is Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spider-Man. I wonder if he had any say in the script.
Spider-Man, by the way, is relegated to his one origin issue in this year -- Amazing Fantasy introduced him, was cancelled, and then revived as The Amazing Spider-Man the following year. It's a pity, because those comics were pretty good when I read them.
Fantastic Four conflict is okay; the best bit is the Thing's existential wonderings, which were capitalized on in Hulk. Ant-Man is a mad scientist, Dr. Donald Blake (Thor's alter-ego) is a one-dimensional doctor with a crush, and the Human Torch... is just cool. I don't know why, but his stories really work. I think they gave Torch his own stories because most of the people reading these comics are teens, and the Torch is the only teen on the Fantastic Four. And the Torch is neat -- his powers are neat, his villains are neat... I'm just, somehow, impressed.
In summary: good first effort, Marvel. Now let's see where you go with it.
NEXT: Marvel 1963 brings Spider-Man into the fore at the same time as it cancels Hulk. Meanwhile, Iron Man and Dr. Strange join the fray, and the Avengers and X-Men teams form. Lots to look forward to -- if I can afford it.
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